strawberry1

Strawberry (Fragaria vesca)

[follow the Wikipedia links]

Read three previous essays on strawberries

2008 click

2007, 2-part series

Grown in numerous temperate and subtropical world regions, strawberries are among the most loved of all fruits.

Strawberry meets many of the criteria to be near the top of the superfruits list, including

according to the United Nations FAOSTAT, about 4 million tons of strawberries were produced in 2008, indicating its wide popularity (the United States alone produced > 1.1 million tons, most of it California)
high in prebiotic fiber, antioxidant vitamin C, dietary minerals, phytosterols and contains resveratrol
rich in phytochemical content - high in polyphenols (skin and pulp anthocyanins, particularly pelargonidin, and ellagic acid and ellagitannins in the achenes, the seeds)
over 1000 total research reports in the medical literature, a topic of considerable research effort by independent scientists
involved in clinical trials to demonstrate lowered disease risk by including strawberries in the human diet

3 New Research Directions for Strawberries

1. Breeding

Transgenic strawberry: state of the art for improved traits. click for research abstract!

Highlights

increasing resistance to viruses, fungi, insects
more effective herbicides
better stress tolerance
achieving better fruit quality (color, size, taste, fragrance)

2. Use in the Diet to Lower Blood Cholesterol

The effect of strawberries in a cholesterol-lowering dietary portfolio. click for research abstract!

Highlights

reduces oxidative damage to blood lipids (possibly deterring lipid deposits in the cardiovascular system)
increases taste and adherence to a lipid-lowering diet

3. Storage and Preservation

Chitosan: antimicrobial activity and potential applications for preserving minimally processed strawberries. click for research abstract!

Highlights

chitosan coating inhibited the growth of microorganisms and improved the stability of the fruit
when the samples were packaged in modified atmosphere (high percentage of oxygen), fruit color was improved

The yellow seeds of a strawberry are called 'achenes'.

Read about them here, click!

Check out the

new Archives just for superfruit essays, click!

Twitter for Superfruits News

We're starting a new online update feature using Twitter, a free micro-blogging service where we can periodically broadcast news updates on berries and superfruits.

Twitter is simply a "short message service" (SMS), just 140 characters for quickly broadcasting a message to our educational network of subscribers for the Berry Doctor's Journal. SMS is the same technology as cell phone texting, short messages being used by over 2 billion people. It's the fastest growing network service on the internet.

And you can reply using Twitter to stimulate a conversation or follow-up question.

To give Twitter a try and receive these news capsules -- even on your cell phone! -- go to Twitter.com and sign up with your own name or handle.

Then visit twitter.com/superfruitsbook where you need to click on "Follow" to be linked into Berry Doctor "tweets" on superfruit news.